Hurricane
by HiddenWhiteFang
Summary: In another world, a race of cat-like beings are watching their world. In desperation, the native race seeks help from different realms. Now, Naruto, Kakashi and several other of the strongest people from various worlds must help restore the Gods and save the world they now find themselves in... Or die with it. Massive x-over, R-T for Violence and Mature Themes.
1. Chapter One: I Watch This City Burn

_Author's Notes: WARNING:: Out of Character-ness is going to happen! As with most crossovers, there is going to be a few moments of OOC-ness! Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned! Also, I am aware that this chapter is choppy! It's the introduction! PLEASE at least read the second chapter before dropping it! You won't regret it!_

_Disclaimer: By writing this story, I do not claim ownership of any of the copyrighted characters, places and ideas present in the story. They belong to their respective owners. This is for pure entertainment. No copyright infringement intended._

* * *

_Hurricane:_

_Part One_

"_If you can hear me, you have been chosen for a task more important than any you have ever faced in the past. _

_For centuries, my people were peaceful. We had no military. We had held our lands without fear of invasion, for we had a contract with the Guardians. They protected us and our lands and in return, we allowed them to slumber during the times of peace. One would awaken every year to rule over our land while the other Seven slept. The Fox was the Guardian of the forest, The Serpent ruled the earth, The Wolf ruled the tundra, The Panther guarded the mountains, The Whale protected the seas, The Horse saw to the plains, The Dragon ruled the Heavens, and The Lion dwelled in Hell. _

_Our time of peace was destroyed before we knew what had happened. Invaders from across the seas crossed during the Sea God's rest. While our gods slept, they took over their lands and locked away our protectors. They put spells on them and took away their free will. My people could not survive._

_My King led a hopeless fight against the invaders. They were clearly outmatched, even though their numbers were easily double. Our meager army was destroyed and my people were taken into slavery._

_The invaders threaten our land, but we are weak against them… That is why I am calling you here… You are my people's last hope. You will usher in peace! You must find the sacred artifacts and awaken our gods so that they may fight the invaders!"_

_**Chapter One: I Watched This City Burn…**_

The events of the past several hours were a blur. The blonde boy in a black and orange outfit stared down at the town he had found himself in. The tower he stood on top of was taller than any structure he had seen in his life. The feeling was only heightened by the fact that the town in which he was in sat on the edge of a cliff. A violent sea bashed against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

The words the woman had spoke to him in his dreams echoed in his head. The boy clenched his fists and shoved off the wall. He headed for the door that led back inside the building. He wasn't sure how he had gotten to this strange world, but he figured he would have to help…

"Naruto!"

The boy lifted his head and smiled as a familiar face greeted him. "Kakashi-sensei? You're here too?" he asked as he ran to his teacher. Kakashi nodded slowly.

"Any idea as to _why_ we are here…?" the man asked as he put a protective hand on his student's shoulder.

"I had a dream… A woman was talking to me… and then I woke up here…" Kakashi nodded. He had a similar experience. "We have to help these people!"

"We _have_ to get home, Naruto! We don't know what kind of people they are! It could all be a lie!" Naruto jumped as lightning and thunder lit the sky and shook the ground. The world they found themselves in was falling apart.

"We can't just leave these people to die!" Naruto snapped.

Kakashi sighed. He knew it was hopeless to argue with the boy. From what his dream had told him, they were in for quite a journey… but it didn't seem _that_ hard. If they traveled quickly, they might be able to locate these missing artifacts and be home within a week or two. _What's the worst that can happen…? _the man thought. He knew he was taking this all too easily, but he learned to roll with the punches. He knew of the existence of other dimensions, so it made sense that they had a way to travel between them… And Naruto took everything too easily.

"You coming?" Kakashi blinked. The boy was already halfway down the hall leading to god knows where. The shinobi sighed and took off after the child. Kakashi stopped once they entered another room. This one seemed to be a dining hall, complete with high ceilings and rows of long tables. What caught the ninja's attention, however, wasn't the room itself, but the people that were there. There were several people there, none of which were familiar to the man.

Naruto also seemed shocked to see so many people gathered. Kakashi quickly took inventory of the people gathered. No one gathered looked entirely deadly, but looks could be deceiving. He took notice of two boys shouting at each other. One of them, the one without glasses, was holding a small black cat with two tails. Kakashi shook his head and shifted his gaze. A black haired man in a suit stood in a corner, watching the others with the same cold expression as Kakashi. The ninja moved on. A boy with white hair was glaring daggers at another man in a suit, but this one had light gray skin and a top hat.

A boy with duel-colored eyes seemed lost. He was sitting on one of the tables, watching everyone with interest. Kakashi was noticing a complete lack of women here as he noted yet another teen. This one was simply glaring around. The boy saw Kakashi staring at him and he wrapped the scarf around his neck and averted his eyes from the older ninja. Kakashi then noticed the first girl in the room… and the massive tiger that came with her. The girl wore a blue dress and seemed to have dog ears and a tail. She was lying on top of a white tiger. Kakashi noticed the well dressed man looking at the cat with interest. Kakashi shrugged and took notice of a group of three kids, one being a girl, sitting at one of the tables. A wolf slept beneath the kids' table.

The last two people he noticed were a woman with fox ears and a tail and a very muscular man in a white hooded cloak. Kakashi quickly crossed over to Naruto, who seemed like he was going to try and make friends with some of the people. Everyone was silent in the room except for the boy with glasses and his brother with the cat. Kakashi put an arm around Naruto's shoulders and led his to a vacant table. "What do you make of this, sensei…?" Naruto asked quietly.

"It looks like we aren't the only ones who were brought here…" Kakashi muttered. He figured that it was for the best, since things tended to get done faster in a group… but he didn't know how well these people would be able to work together.

The two brothers continued to argue for what felt like another hour or so before a hush fell over the room. Kakashi turned and saw someone he had not seen when they had first entered the room. The figure was cloaked in a black cloak with an elaborate pattern in silver. The garment was beautiful. The figure stood at the head of the dining hall. With the elegance of a royal, the woman beneath the cloak removed the hood. Her ice blue hair fell down well past her knees and her piercing blue eyes watched the gathered people. Her most amazing feature, however, was that she did not appear to be human. Her features were very cat-like and her skin was covered in fine, white fur. From what could be seen of the woman's body, she seemed to have blue tabby stripes that were the same color as her hair. While she was a beauty, Kakashi was having trouble figuring out why the cat-woman's people had so much trouble defeating their invaders.

The woman smiled at the gathered people. "I apologize, my guests," she said with a sigh. Kakashi recognized the voice as the woman who spoke to him in the dream. Her accent was lovely. "For I know this is not the welcome you were expecting… and you did not agree to come here… This must be a shock to you all…" The cat woman sighed deeply. "Please… Allow me to explain… My name Aria. I am ruler of this land… This is the last remaining stronghold in our Kingdom… I am sorry that you had to be brought here… but my people are slaves to the Invaders and I was out of options! Forgive me!" The woman bowed deeply.

"I apologize, ma'am… but many of us, I included, have duties to attend to back in our homes. We cannot be expected to fight your battles," the man in the suit said. His red eyes were narrowed at the cat-woman, but even Kakashi could not tell if it was anger or interest.

"I understand, sir!" the princess said desperately. "But my people are dying! I had no other choice! You are their last hope!"

"I understand this, ma'am…" the man returned, "but we have commitments that cannot just be abandoned."

Naruto stood. "I will help you!" he declared. Kakashi closed his eye and sighed deeply. The white haired boy with the scar also stood.

"I will help as well, ma'am!" he called. The wolf from underneath the table barked her approval. One by one, the others in the room declared their willingness to help, leaving only the butler, the boy with the scarf, and the man with the top hat to silently watch.

Aria was clearly moved by the support. She wiped a tear from her eye and smiled. "Thank you! My people will sing your praises for generations to come!" she called. The three that did not offer their support just looked on. Aria didn't seem to notice. "Please, get to know each other! Dinner will be served within the hour and tomorrow my people will begin educating you of our world and what you are facing!" The woman bowed again and replaced her hood before leaving the Great Hall.

The room fell silent. Kakashi stood and patted Naruto on the shoulder. The boy smiled and started towards the white-haired boy. Kakashi crossed to the unwilling butler. "You seem rather busy," he said. He figured it would be good to get to know everyone there and begin planning out their strengths and weaknesses… and he wanted to get the reluctant ones ready to fight.

"I do not know about you, sir, but I have duties to perform back in my world and I do not have time to win someone else's war," the man snapped.

"Well, if you are too chicken to fight, then I'm sure they will send you back home," Kakashi said with a shrug.

"I will not allow you to insult me into joining this ridiculous situation…"

"What if it's our only way to get home?" Kakashi asked.

"There must be another way out of here without risking life and limb," the man said.

"Perhaps… but wouldn't it be faster to just go with it instead of working alone on a way to get out of here?" Kakashi tried to reason.

"I do not work well with others. People are morons…" the man said with a wave of his hand. Kakashi shrugged.

"Either way, my name is Kakashi."

"Sebastian," the man answered curtly. Kakashi sighed and decided to leave the man alone for the time being. He made sure to locate Naruto, who was speaking quickly with the other boy and then Kakashi went to the kid with the scarf. He was avoiding coming in contact with the grey-skinned man for the time being. The boy looked up at Kakashi for a moment and then looked away.

"Hello," Kakashi said.

"I don't want to help these people," the boy said quietly. "Leave me alone…"

Kakashi blinked. The boy couldn't be too much older than Naruto, but he seemed cold and callous already. Another thing that caught Kakashi's eye was that the boy was sickly. He was thin and his skin was paler than Sai's. The boy was also taking in Kakashi's appearance. _Why would they bring someone this ill into this…? _Kakashi thought. "My name is Kakashi… and why don't you want to help these people?"

"Because I don't," the boy answered, plainly ignoring Kakashi's attempts to make nice. "Why don't you go talk to that butler again…?"

Kakashi shook his head and walked away from the sickly boy. There wasn't much to do after that. The Grey man was over by Naruto and his friend by that point and the others had either taken to talking to someone else, or sitting at a table to wait for dinner. Kakashi walked to his student and introduced himself to the other two people. The white-haired boy bowed slightly. "My name is Allen Walker," he said with a smile. "And this is Tyki."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," the grey man said with a cold smile. "I'm also sure that you are one of the ones that want to help these fools… Am I right?"

"You can say what you will," Kakashi snapped. "I am just trying to get my student home, and if helping these people is the only way to do that, then I will do just that."

Tyki grinned. "So you aren't just a bleeding heart, huh?" he teased. "Unlike Allen and your student. You and I might be able to get along."

"You're probably more suited for that man," Kakashi said, pointing to Sebastian. The man was now lingering close to the dog-girl and her tiger. He seemed very interested in either the girl or the beast… either way, Kakashi thought it was a little creepy. He closed his eye and turned back to Tyki, but the man was gone. Apparently he was taking Kakashi's advice. Kakashi watched the interaction between Tyki and Sebastian for a moment. The butler seemed annoyed that he had been interrupted.

"So… you are a "bleeding heart?" Kakashi asked Allen.

The white haired boy laughed sheepishly. "I guess you could say that… I've just learned to roll with what life gives you, I guess…" Kakashi smiled. It seemed not everyone here was stuck up. He turned back to the sickly boy and frowned. _I still don't understand why he was brought here… _he thought. He blinked as a boy he hadn't noticed before walked to the other boy.

"We should help them, Yoite…" the boy muttered. The elder looked down.

"I do not see the purpose, Miharu," Yoite said quietly.

"I'm not in control of the Shinrabansho yet… Just… don't use the Kira here and we'll be fine… It's not worth losing your life over…" Miharu said.

"Whatever you wish…"

Miharu sighed and slid down the wall so he was sitting. Yoite watched him for a moment before scanning the area again. "Is there anyone else here that we know…?"

"No, Miharu," Yoite said simply. The younger ninja closed his eyes and placed his head on his knees. "You are distressed."

"I don't get distressed."

"You would feel better if Tobari-sensei was here… am I right?" Miharu shrugged.

"I'll get us home…" he muttered.

Yoite didn't respond and the two sat in silence until the group of three walked towards them. Miharu looked up without moving and Yoite clenched his fists. "Don't…" Miharu whispered, but he was sure the elder didn't hear him.

"What do you want…?" Yoite asked coldly.

"We just figured it would be a good idea to get to know everyone," the girl in the group said. "My name is Maka, and this is Soul." She pointed to the other boy and then held out her hand for Yoite to shake it. There was an awkward silence before she withdrew her hand slowly and let it fall to her side.

"His name is Yoite, and I am Miharu… Nice to meet you…" Miharu said finally. The other boy in the group blinked his golden eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all…" the boy muttered.

"This is Death the Kid… but we just call him Kid," Soul said. Miharu shrugged.

"Death…?" Yoite asked. Miharu opened one eye in mild surprise.

"Yeah… My father's a death god… Which makes me one," Kid explained.

"I see…"

"We call him the Angel of Death," Miharu said quietly.

"Yes… and if you do not wish to experience where that nickname came from, I would suggest that you walk away," Yoite threatened.

Maka scoffed. "Aren't you wonderful?" she snapped. Miharu thought about defending Yoite, but decided against it. Kid was still watching the ninja with mild interest. Yoite lifted his hand slowly.

"Enough, Yoite. There's no need to waste your strength on these guys," Miharu said.

Maka narrowed her eyes and turned on her heels to find someone else to speak to. Soul and Kid quickly followed after her. "What did you see, Kid?" she asked when they were out of earshot.

"He's dying…" Kid muttered, looking back at Yoite.

Soul blinked. "Really…?"

"Yeah… He doesn't have long…" Maka sighed deeply and returned back to their table. By that point the two brothers who had been arguing were sitting at the other end of the table. The one with glasses was still lecturing his brother. The cat had fallen asleep. The boy without glasses smiled when the group returned. He waved, which caused the other to stop his lecture.

"Hi!" the boy called.

Soul smiled. "Hey!"

"Rin… We're busy."

"No, Yukio, you are busy. I'm bored," Rin said with a smile. He stood and walked over to the kids. "Hi! My name is Rin and that's my brother, Yukio!" He held out his hand and Soul was the first to grab it.

"What about the cat?"

"That's Kuro," Rin replied. He sat on top of the table. Kuro settled in his lap and closed his eyes with a yawn. Yukio sat beside Rin and put his head on the table. "Don't look so down, bro!" Yukio grunted, but said nothing. He just reached over and grabbed the sword that rested in the sheath. "Hey!"

"I'm holding on to this until we get home…" Yukio muttered.

"What if I need it?"

"You can have it back later…"

Rin pouted and turned back to the group. "Sorry about my brother… He's an idiot."

"He doesn't seem that bad…" Maka said. Rin shrugged and closed his eyes. Kid was still looking back at Yoite and Miharu. "Kid… I don't think you can do anything for them… even if he is dying… How are you even going to fight…? Liz and Patti aren't here…"

"Yeah… I know…" Kid muttered. "At least you have Soul…"

"You need two chicks in order to fight?" Rin asked.

"Something like that… It's… complicated…" Rin shrugged and stroked his cat. "So, what about you? What's the sword for…?"

"To hit people with…?" Rin answered, confused.

"Why did your brother take it if it's just a sword?" Soul asked, deciding to get in on the twenty questions. Why should Kid have all the fun?

"Because Rin will poke his eye out," Yukio snapped.

Rin sighed. "There's no need to be mean, four-eyes…" he muttered. Yukio shook his head, deciding it was best to leave the comment in the air.

"For brothers, you two really don't get along well…" Kid observed.

"What of it?"

"Just an observation…"

* * *

"They do not look to be getting along too well, sister…" a voice muttered. The beautiful cat-like woman was staring down at their guests, her eyes soft and worried.

"I know… but in time, they will come to rely on each other… In time, they will be a team," Aria said. "Tomorrow we will show them to the stables… and they will pick their mounts… And then they will be off to liberate us…"

"You are putting too much faith in a group of strangers, sister…"

"Malum… you must have more faith in the unknown…"

The cloaked female beside her sister sighed deeply. "I understand… But would it not be better to bring some of our own on this journey? They do not know our land."

"Of course, Malum. I would not send them blindly into the hostile land like lambs to a slaughter… I want you to guide them to the Eight Regions of the Gods, and then, to the Wastelands, where their true enemy awaits defeat."

Malum took in a sharp breath, but didn't argue. "As you wish, my queen…" she said with a deep bow. "I shall instruct the servants to serve dinner for our guests…"

* * *

_Author's note: Yep! That's it! It's basically the Avengers for anime characters! I hope you all enjoy this ride and I will try my best to keep everyone in character as much as possible! If you have any questions about the anime or game a character is from, don't hesitate to ask! _


	2. Chapter Two: It's Time to Begin

_Author's note: Welcome to chapter two! I hope you guys enjoy this one more! _

_Chapter Two: It's Time to Begin_

Sebastian supposed there were worse fates than this… The butler was carefully putting on the clothes provided for him. They were not as well fitting as he would have liked, be he supposed they would do… The bagginess of them would help in the long run in case he needed the extra fabric.

The world he had found himself in was cold and dark, but not unlike the world he had been plucked from. What made this place more interesting was that every humanoid being he had seen so far were as cat-like as the princess that had spoken to them on the first day. The race that they had come across looked like a hybrid between the mythological elf race and cats. They were graceful and beautiful creatures.

He sighed and looked at himself in the mirror. The rooms they were given were simple. The structure of the building was amazing, but it seemed they were confined to the servants' quarters… not that he was unfamiliar with such a place. The clothes he had been given were quite fitting for the setting. He wore a white, long sleeved undershirt with a brown leather tunic on top. The leather was strong and was a good layer of protection. Pair of pants and leather boots was provided as well. The man turned to the sword that had been given to him. It resembled a Katana. He gently placed the silver blade into the intricately decorated black sheath and sighed.

_I suppose one cannot help these circumstances… _he thought. _Young Master will surely be having a fit by now… I do believe I can hear him calling even here… Hopefully he will stay out of trouble… _The man nodded once, did a sharp about-face and headed for the door.

None of the others he was forced to work with were out and about this early in the morning. Sebastian had been hoping to tour the building before meeting in the dining hall for breakfast as they had been instructed. He was too engrossed in the stone work of the hallway to notice the small cloaked figure. The two collided. "Oh. My deepest apologies…" Sebastian said. The boy he hit hissed. "Pardon me… but did you just hiss…?" He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised since he was in a world where sentient cat-like beings were apparently the dominate race… but there was something different about this boy… he wasn't as graceful as the elfish cats.

The boy quickly backed away from Sebastian and took off down the hallway. He ducked into one of the slave rooms, confirming that he wasn't a native in this realm. Sebastian had not seen any actual slaves from the native race, so he figured that servitude was a luxury the creatures could no longer afford. The butler sighed and continued his walk out of the slave quarters and into the courtyard. The morning air was colder than he would have liked, but it wasn't entirely uncomfortable.

The garden, however, was dead. The man frowned, thinking of the times where he had to clean up their incompetent gardener's mess. _I fear not even I could do something about this dead land…_ he thought with a sigh. He stiffened suddenly when he became aware of another presence in the dead garden. He turned slowly and spotted the other. She was a native to the land… but unlike any of the others he had seen before. She was not covered in light brown or white fur. She was black as the starless night. Her hair was as dark as her fur and it flowed behind her, reaching the ground as she knelt before what looked like a dead rose bush. The last inch or so of her hair was the color of blood and she seemed to have highlights of the same color that appeared whenever she moved her head. When she turned to examine a tiny bud, her hair shifted enough to reveal what looked like a leathery black wing.

Sebastian's breath caught and he took a step back. The cat-woman's ears perked and she turned her crimson and golden eyes to where the butler was hiding. Without a sound, the woman stood and retreated back into the stone castle. _What strange and beautiful creatures they have here… _Sebastian thought. The man sighed again. Vapor billowed around his head and he turned again to enter the castle.

This was the best time to learn about the race of creatures that ruled the land. They would be sent into this land without much history, it seemed, leaving the man to have to investigate himself. The castle itself was as beautiful as the creatures who built it. The stone work on the inner walls told stories. He only wished he could read the strange writing.

When he made it to a balcony, he noticed another creature there. This was not one of the natives. He recognized the girl from the dinner the previous evening. She had on a lovely dress that was loose enough for combat. She had on a small brown leather vest over the green garment to hold weapons and small supplies and a traveler's bag was slung over her shoulder to hold anything else she might need. "Sad, is it not…?" the woman asked.

_Hmm… She noticed me without turning…_ "What is sad?" Sebastian asked as he stepped onto the balcony and looked over the edge. The dead garden was the view.

"All those plants…" the wolf woman whispered. "This whole land… I can hear it weeping…"

"So… this world really is in danger of dying…?" Sebastian asked.

"It is…" she breathed. Sebastian leaned against the stone railing to look out at the garden and then the land beyond the castle walls. It too looked dead. "My name is Holo, by the way."

"Sebastian, ma'am," the butler introduced. He pushed off the railing and offered her a bow with his hand to his chest. "Back home I would have been in charge of doing something to make that garden presentable… It seems gardening is not their top priority at the present."

"I cannot say I blame them," Holo said.

"Quite. Impending doom is often a good excuse to neglect the household chores," Sebastian said. "But I do not think it is the best excuse."

"You jest, surely…"

"No, ma'am," Sebastian said with a shrug. He turned again to the garden and sighed deeply. Another one of the chosen ones was walking down the marble path of the dead garden. This man was very muscular. Even with the hooded outfit Sebastian could see how well built he was. _Hmm… He could be quite useful… _he thought. "Did you happen to meet that young man yesterday, ma'am?" he asked.

"Yes," Holo answered. "He says he's an assassin or something. His name is Connor." Sebastian nodded slowly. An assassin had to be smart and cunning to survive. The man would definitely be helpful.

Sebastian stepped away from the railing. "I will be off, then, ma'am," he said with a bow. Without waiting for her answer, he went back into the stone hallway where he was again greeted by the cloaked child. "Hello," he greeted. The boy hissed and went to dodge away from the butler. Sebastian was faster. He grabbed the child's arm. "I do not take kindly to being followed. Do you need something?"

"No," the boy muttered. "Now let me go…" Sebastian released the child.

"Is the hood for anything in particular?"

"That's none of your business," the child snapped.

"I believe that your desire to stalk me has made it my business," Sebastian reasoned. "Now… Do you need something?" he asked again.

"No."

"Then be on your way." The child nodded and started down the hall.

"Name's Conri, by the way!" he called. Sebastian sighed and shook his head.

_The boy can't be much older than my young Master… _he thought as he went in the opposite direction. The butler smirked slightly. _Maybe this will not be so bad… and I will return with a story to tell…_

* * *

"You'll catch your death out here, Miharu…" The black haired ninja looked up as his taller companion walked to stand beside him. The boy was standing on an over-look platform that faced the raging sea. It was colder here than inside the garden.

"I could say the same about you, Yoite," Miharu said without looking up. "Is there something you want…?"

"No," Yoite said. Miharu shoved off the railing and headed inside. Yoite followed silently. Miharu looked back at his companion for a moment and sighed.

"Remember our deal," he said.

"Of course. I cannot die before you have a chance to erase me for existence…" Yoite replied quietly. Miharu nodded slowly. He looked at the carvings in the hallway and sighed. Everything here was so different than his home. The two young ninja were silent in their walk down the hallway.

Yoite stopped first. Miharu stopped a few steps later. Another well dressed man was standing at the end of the hallway. He seemed to be studying the strange writing on the walls. Miharu sighed and kept walking, leaving Yoite behind. The grey-haired man smiled at the approaching ninja. "Hello," he greeted with a smile and a bow. Miharu noticed the smile was entirely false, but he didn't acknowledge the fact. "My name is Soushi Miketsukami."

"Miharu Rokujo," the boy introduced. He held out his hand, which Soushi took gratefully.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Rokujo!" Soushi said with a little too much enthusiasm. Miharu studied the strange man. He didn't look like a ninja… if anything, he looked like a butler. The man's eyes were two different colors. One was blue and the other was golden yellow. "Who might your friend be?" Soushi asked.

"His name is Yoite…"

"Oh! Will he come and say hello?"

"He doesn't talk much…" Miharu answered. "Don't feel bad."

"I do not!" Soushi assured Miharu. The young ninja sighed deeply and turned back to his pale companion. Yoite walked silently to them and stopped a step behind Miharu, but it was obvious that he was prepared to spring at the first hint of danger. "I look forward to working with you two!"

"Yeah… Same to you…" He turned to Yoite. "Are you hungry? I think breakfast is being served soon."

"Whatever you want to do, Miharu…"

Miharu sighed softly and bowed to Soushi. "We'll be off, then."

"I will accompany you to breakfast!" the heterochromic man said with a smile.

"I guess it can't be helped…" Miharu said. Yoite blinked and bowed his head slightly, meaning that he agreed. Miharu signaled his companions to follow. They did so without a word, though Soushi tried to engage Yoite in conversation while they walked. Miharu listened while Yoite either dodged the questions or provided a vague, one or two word answer.

_Maybe this time away from our world will help him open up… _Miharu thought. The boy clenched his fists. "Is something wrong, Miharu?"

Miharu turned to see Yoite watching him with the same emotionless expression. "No… nothing." Yoite nodded.

When they reached the dining hall, it was already crowded. Miharu noticed the two brothers from earlier. The one with glasses was reading a book that Miharu couldn't quite make out while the other had his head on the table and was petting his little, twin-tailed cat. Both wore the style of the setting, but the one without glasses had on a sleeveless cloak.

He recognized the group of children that had bothered him and Yoite the day before. The black and white haired boy seemed to shiver when they walked into the room. He turned slowly towards them and then looked away quickly. The other male in the trio seemed to be teasing him.

Miharu quickly crossed the room to a vacant table and sat. Yoite stood behind him and Soushi seated himself opposite of the younger ninja.

"Good Morning!" Miharu flinched and, along with everyone else, spun around to see the orange clad teen from before bursting into the dining hall with a ridiculous grin on his face. His sensei was behind him, looking very embarrassed to be seen with the child. Miharu was surprised that the black medieval-style uniform he had been given had orange accents. It seemed these people were trying. His own uniform was rather dull, while Soushi's looked like a manservant's clothes from the time period. Yoite had been given a long traveler's cloak and Miharu wasn't sure what was beneath it.

The teacher that accompanied the loud-mouthed boy had been given basic traveler's clothes. The boy and his sensei walked over to the group of three. "Hello!" Soushi greeted. Yoite merely narrowed his eyes and Miharu offered a rather unwelcoming greeting.

"Hey! My name's Naruto Uzumaki!" the boy greeted, thrusting his hand out. Soushi took it eagerly.

"Do you mind if we sit here…?" the teacher asked.

"Please, sit!" Soushi said before Miharu or Yoite had a chance to utter protest. Naruto took the invitation eagerly. Kakashi was a bit more hesitant.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake… We are Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf…" Both Miharu and Yoite stiffened slightly. These people just got a bit more interesting.

"My name is Miharu Rokujo, and that's Yoite… I'm from the Banten village and he's from the Kairoushuu…"

"I've never heard of those villages…" Kakashi muttered.

"I don't think we're from the same place. We're from a place called Japan…"

Kakashi blinked. "Interesting…" A thought seemed to hit the man. "Surely if we are all from different places… worlds even, then there should be a language barrier between us… I can assure you that the odds of all our worlds sharing a common language are not in our favor…"

Miharu blinked. He hadn't thought about that… He and Yoite were speaking Japanese and everything he had heard was indeed Japanese… but the elder ninja was right… The odds that everyone in this room was fluent in Japanese were impossible… Not to mention the indigenous cat-beings that have proven to speak another language due to the strange writing on the walls, but they could easily understand them when they spoke, even if it was with a heavy accent…

The thought made the boy's head spin. He wondered what Tobari-sensei would have to say about that… _Maybe one of us can ask the cat-people… _he thought. _It's an interesting question… _He figured that if he had the ability to reshape the world, and history as the world knew it, then there were probably other powers in other worlds stranger than his own. Miharu rested his head on the table and listened to Naruto and Soushi discuss whatever they were talking about. Kakashi was also trying to get some information out of Yoite, who seemed to be opening up to the man a little more than he had with Soushi, but Miharu didn't care enough to completely tune into their conversations. He just closed his eyes and waited to breakfast to be served.

* * *

Maka was a little less amused with this whole situation. She was studying one of the books she found in the extensive library in the castle. It seemed to be full of the rich history of the cat race… but she couldn't understand the strange writing. She looked over at her male companions. Kid was trying to keep his eye on the dying ninja and Soul was trying to hold a conversation with the boy, but neither was getting very far.

"Can you even read that?" Soul asked, deciding that Kid was hopeless at the moment, so he would have to find entertainment elsewhere.

"No… but the pictures are fascinating…" Maka answered. She showed her weapon the beautifully intricate illustrations depicting one of the eight gods. It was of the Forest God, the Fox. The beast was easily the size of a horse, if not larger. The illustration wasn't colored, but the pattern on the god's fur was beautifully detailed.

"So? It's a fox…" Soul muttered. Maka groaned and pulled the book close again.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to read this…" she whispered. Soul sighed and went back to trying to get Kid's attention. Maka looked up for a moment. Kid's attention had strayed from the boy named Yoite and drifted to the structure of the building. According to him, it was perfect. These beings were flawless in almost everything they did… _But why don't they have a military…? _She asked as she searched through the book. There were many drawings of what looked like knights and there were sections on weapons. _What made them decide weapons and training were no longer needed?_

Just as she finished her thought, several guards came in with the food to be served to the guests. It was some kind of thick, dark red broth with chunks of meat in it… There were other plants in it as well, but the meat seemed to be the center of the dish. "Not much of a breakfast…" Maka said. Kid nodded in agreement as he lifted the thick stew.

"What is this…?" he wondered aloud.

"Dunno! But it's pretty good!" Soul said as he took a bite. Maka hesitantly took a bite as well and almost cringed. It was well seasoned, but the metallic taste could not be disguised.

"It's blood!" she gasped, pushing the bowl away.

Kid also took a bite and had a similar reaction. "It _is_ blood!"

Maka spotted one of the guards walking around and signaled him over to them. The elfish cat walked over them and smiled. "Is something wrong…?" he asked kindly.

"This… This is blood!" Maka gasped, disgusted.

"Yes… It is a meal we make here before a long journey… It is made of the blood of the Elk. They can travel weeks without stopping… It is meant to help improve strength," the man explained. "The beast is slaughtered and the fresh meat is placed in a boiling broth made of water and several spices. The blood is seasoned while the meat cooks and then it is added and set to simmer for hours! It is very good for long journeys…"

"But it's _blood!_" Maka protested. The cat man seemed disheartened at her disgust. Maka sighed. "Is there any bread…?" she asked after a moment. The man brightened up as he darted off. He returned with a large loaf of dark bread. "Thanks…" The man nodded and left. Maka did her best to finish the stew. She couldn't deny that it was pretty good… but the taste of blood couldn't be forgotten.

"We should probably get used to it…" Kid said. "I have a feeling this will be our traveling food…"

"And who's going to teach us how to make it?" Maka asked. "We can't read their language…"

Kid was about to answer when the blue-tinged cat called out to the people in the dining hall. The Princess of the kingdom was indeed beautiful. Maka sat at attention. "Greetings, honored guests!" the cat woman called from her place. "I hope you all slept well… I apologize for such lowly living quarters… but that was all we had to give with so many refugees in hiding here…" Aria bowed before the gathered group. "A search party has returned with yet more of your people… If you know them, please inform them of the situation." Three men and one woman were led to the front of the area. Maka blinked. One of them was a rather ordinary-looking man, considerably older than the other two by the looks of his white hair.

"Lawrence!" The wolf-girl ran to the front of the room and hugged the white-haired man. The man, shell-shocked, gripped her tightly. After a moment she walked to man back to her place near the butler. No one ran forward to claim the other three. One had deep orange eyes and black hair while the other had bright purple hair and eyes. The girl had long white hair and wore battle armor.

"Why bother with those forms…?" the girl snapped at the boys.

The one with orange eyes sighed. "My original form might scare some here…" he muttered back. The other boy didn't bother with an answer. The white-haired girl let out a soft groan and the trio headed to an empty table.

Maka sighed as the trio took a seat. Having heard their exchange, she guessed they were from the same world. "Also," Aria continued, "there were some in the group that we did not feel the need to retain." Maka took a look around. Sure enough, the gray-skinned man and the girl with the large white tiger were missing from the ranks.

"What have you done with the others, then?" the butler called as he stood to address the royal.

"Fear not… We have only sent them back to their homes. They were mistakenly brought here." The butler didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but he sat down without protest. No one seemed to see the need to ask to be returned home since they had already agreed to aide in this. "My sister, Malum, will bring you to the stables once you are finished eating. There you will pick your mounts and gather your supplies." She stepped back as an equally stunning cat-beast stepped forward. She was dark-skinned and as Maka turned to the source of a soft gasp, she found that Sebastian looked as if he had already at least seen this lovely creature.

"I will accompany you across our lands!" Malum said. She had a thicker accent than Aria, but it wasn't hard to comprehend. "Your sacrifice will be praised for eternity!" There was a shout from the guards as they raised their arms in a rejoicing ritual.

Maka smiled. "I guess being heroes won't be so bad…" she said.

Soul nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! And if we save a world, your dad will _have_ to acknowledge that, right Kid?!" he asked as he nudged his friend's shoulder.

Kid smiled softly and flexed his hands. Maka knew his misgivings. He was weaponless… and while he could survive well without them, she knew he would miss their company… _I'm sure that's all he's going to think about… _

"I wonder what kind of a mess will be waiting for me when I get home with those two unsupervised!" Kid moaned suddenly.

Maka blinked and then let out a laugh that was more like a sigh. _Or he could be thinking about how they're going to mess up every picture he painstakingly made perfect… _she thought with a shake of her head.

"Look on the bright side, Kid," she teased. "At least you won't be bored when you get home!"

_Author's Note: Well THAT took longer than expected! DX Sorry about that, guys! But here it is; chapter two! I took out some characters for the sake of plot-lines and such, and I had a request for Lawrence to make an appearance! I try to do things for my fans! I hope you guys are enjoying this so far! I think this chapter was a lot less choppy than chapter one! Please Read and Review! See ya'll in Chapter Three!_


	3. Chapter 3: Worth Fighting For

_Author's Note: Not much to say here! Please enjoy! Also, I'm not taking anymore character requests for this fic. I already have too many, sorry!_

_Chapter Three: Worth Fighting For_

"I don't know why _you_ two are here…"

The man with the orange eyes sighed. "Give it a rest, Emi…" he muttered. "We're here and that's it…" The trio was sitting at a table. The boy with the purple hair was sprawled out on the table, using it like a bed. The other man had his head resting on his folded arms, his orange eyes watching their white haired companion.

"Are you even going to tell them who you really are?" the woman, Emi, snapped. The man waved his hand lazily.

"No need to go around calling myself Satan here…" he muttered. "Right Urushihara?"

The boy with the purple hair opened one eye. "Might as well call me Lucifer… We aren't in Japan anymore."

"Then I'll just go by Sadoa. Does that please you, Emilia?"

Emi scoffed. "Do what you want," she snapped. "I don't care."

"At least there's magic here," Lucifer pointed out without opening his eyes.

"Yes… that _is_ a plus," Sadoa said with a smile that quickly disappeared when he caught the look on Emi's face. "Yeesh! Calm down!" he said quickly. "I'm not going to do anything!" He moaned and buried his head in his arm, muttering something inaudible.

"What was that, overlord?" Emi snapped.

"I said 'I am going to miss work tomorrow'…"

"Is that all you care about?" The girl sighed softly. "Where is your General, anyway? Why'd you bring this bum?"

"I didn't _pick_ who got to come," Sadoa pointed out. "And Alciel is sick…"Emi groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I can't leave you three alone for five minutes…"

"No one asked you to babysit us!" Sadoa snapped.

"Give it a rest, you two…" Lucifer moaned. Sadoa sighed deeply and closed his orange eyes. The trio sat in silence until they were interrupted.

"Hello!" one of the boys said. "Name's Rin!" Sadoa turned to look at the twins that showed up and sighed.

"Sadoa… and this is Emi and this bum here is Lucifer," the demon answered. Rin's brother looked down at the boy that was sprawled on his stomach.

"That's Yukio," Rin said with a smile, but Yukio didn't seem too pleased with the trio.

"_I don't think Yukio likes them…" _

Sadoa blinked and looked up. None of the humans had spoken. "Who said that?"

"Hearing voices, _overlord?"_ Emi teased.

Rin blinked and looked down at his cat. "_I think he heard me… "_

"So… he's a demon…?" Rin whispered back to the animal, who nodded. Rin instantly stiffened. Sadoa could see the body language of both the brothers' change drastically.

_The one without glasses doesn't look fully human… _Sadoa thought upon closer examination. _With his pointed ears and fangs… Hmm… But why would his brother _not_ be a demon…? _It was a rather vexing thought and the demon overlord decided to dismiss it. He couldn't even tell if the boys were actually related anyway. _Well, I know for sure that the cat is not normal… _

"We should go, Rin…" Yukio muttered. Lucifer opened his eyes.

"So soon?" he whined.

"Yeah… And you should probably hang on to this…" Yukio passed Rin a sword bag that most likely held a sword.

"Don't let those two idiots scare you," Emi said. "You can stay if you want."

"No… I think we would do better to leave you guys alone for now… We're leaving soon anyway…" As if he were a prophet, the call went out for the group of people to be moved.

"Please stay with the people at your table!" one of the guards called. "We are going to the stables. Wagons have been prepared for you! Good luck, and may the gods watch over your journey!"

"Aren't we saving their gods…?" Yukio muttered. Rin looked at his brother and nodded slowly. Sadoa turned to his companions, making sure Lucifer got up to follow.

_Guess I won't be making it to work tomorrow after all… _he thought with a sigh. He let Emi gather information from the two brothers, since neither seemed too keen on talking to the demon lord and the fallen angel. The man listened intently. Yukio was a load of information while his brother kept stealing glances at the men, petting his cat like his life depended on it. _Well… If he _is_ a demon, he seems rather uncomfortable around other demons… _he thought, pondering the situation and the boy he now seemed stuck with. Sadoa sighed deeply.

"You shouldn't think so hard," Lucifer teased. "You might pull a muscle or something."

"We're back to being demons…" the man hissed, "Which means we're back in war-mode… I need to get back to work as soon as possible."

"You might be back in war-mode… But as for me, I couldn't care less."

"Just keep an eye on that kid with the cat," Sadoa ordered.

"Sure, fine… Whatever. As long as we get back before I die of boredom…"

Sadoa sighed and tuned back in to the conversation between Emi and Yukio.

* * *

Lawrence was completely lost and terrified. His hand was clutching Holo's as if he was afraid that if he let go, she would disappear. He felt as if he were in a dream. He had seen enough of the strange to last a life time when he met Holo… but now he was in a world and situation far different than his own. _I am not a knight… _he thought as he listened to the wolf-girl's explanation of what they were doing there. _I am a merchant… I can't even fight off other merchants! How am I supposed to fight off heaven knows what we're up against?! _He reached up and rested his head in his free hand. The hallway they were being led down was narrow, only allowing two people to walk side-by-side.

He couldn't help but be reminded of the bottle-neck technique he had seen at slaughter houses. _And we are the lambs… _he thought shakily. He decided, instead, to focus on the gentleman in front of them. He was an intimidating figure, with his head bowed down beneath his hood. Another, smaller, hooded figure walked beside the man. Anyone bigger than the young child probably wouldn't fit beside the bigger man.

"Lawrence…?" The man jumped and looked down at Holo. "You are going to have to calm down…" she hissed. "You cannot show fear here…"

"This isn't the sewer with a few other humans after us!" Lawrence whispered back, almost frantic. "And I could have been killed that day! We don't know _what_ we're up against here, Holo!"

"Well… making a scene and showing that you are scared is not going to help our situation…"

Lawrence sighed and let his hand drop to his side. The man in front of them shook his head, as if annoyed by the two. Lawrence closed his eyes to steady himself and Holo gripped his hand tighter. He only opened his eyes when he felt the sun on his face. The bad weather had cleared up for the time being and the dark purple star that played the role of the sun shone down, bathing the world in a purplish hue. Lawrence looked at the sky and noticed a smaller, white star in the sky. _Two suns…? Now I've seen everything… _

Unlike the dead garden of the castle, the stable and pastures managed to stay in repair. The pasture was small, but it was full of many different creatures. Lawrence gripped Holo's hand tighter. The beasts in the pens were unlike anything he had ever seen. He had been expecting horses… but the only horse he spotted in the pasture was pitch back with red eyes and had two leathery wings stretching from its back. The man sent up a prayer to whatever god was supposedly watching over this world.

"Welcome!" Malum shouted from the front of the group. She was on top of her own steed. The animal was beautiful. It might have been a horse… The hindquarters of the animal resembled a Clydesdale. It was black in color with silver "boots." Its tail, however, was that of a bird's. The waterfall of silver and black feathers swayed gently in the breeze. The front half of the horse resembled a lion. It still kept the Clydesdale's strong features, but it had a silver lion's mane and the front legs were pawed and powerful. The animal turned its eyes to the group. They were the eyes of a hawk, and instead of a horse's mouth, the magnificent beast had the hooked beak of a bird of prey. Two massive feathered wings were folded around the rider's legs.

"You will now pick a steed to ride! Those who are not proficient in riding will have to travel in one of the supply wagons!" She pointed to three covered wagons. Each wagon had a team of two Clydesdale horses. Lawrence sighed. This was something he was familiar with. Even though they weren't his mare, he knew he could handle that.

Just as he began to relax, a loud horn followed by the beating of several drums rang out. Malum kicked her steed and the beast spread its wings. "What's happening?" someone shouted.

"They are here! Quickly! We must leave!" Malum shouted. She pointed to the end of the pasture. There was a draw-bridge that led out of the stronghold. Lawrence quickly turned his head back to the wagons. He could see that there was food and blankets in one, weapons in another and the third looked like a traveling wagon. It most likely held medical supplies, but for the most part, it was empty. The man shook his head and let Holo's hand go.

"Get as many riding animals out of here!" he gasped.

"What are you going to do?!" Holo snapped.

"I'm going to get at least one wagon!" Holo looked at him and frowned. Only moments ago he was shaking like a child. She surely thought that he couldn't handle himself. Lawrence smiled and pulled out his own dagger. "I'll be fine…" He kissed her forehead. "May the gods go with you…"

Holo smiled and took off into the confusion. Lawrence took a moment to steady his breathing before running to the wagons. He had been right. The nearly empty one had been a medical wagon, used to hold the sick and the injured. There were medical supplies beneath the benches, but other than that the wagon was empty. Lawrence ran to the weapons' wagon and began throwing any weapon he could find into the medical wagon. He made sure to get swords, daggers and a bow and arrow. He threw a crossbow into the wagon for good measure before running to the supply wagon. _Furs, blankets, dried meats and fruits, canned water, wine, saddles…_ The merchant in him envied the amount of profit he could gain with such a harvest, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

_The fruits would be good… With Holo here, hunting shouldn't be too much of a problem… _the man calculated as he quickly ran the supplies to the other wagon. _The furs will be good as well! We don't know if we will have time to skin and tan anything…_ Just as he reached the wagon to gather more of the blankets a flaming arrow buried itself deep into the supplies. Lawrence gasped and looked up. A bluish-gray skinned humanoid creature was preparing another arrow. The creature had pointed eyes and solid black eyes. The creature was easily a head taller than the tallest man Lawrence had ever seen, but it was thin. It didn't look quite emaciated, but it was close. Its blue skin clung tightly to its bones and hard muscles. When it smiled it revealed fangs and when it turned to look around, it showed its pointed elfish ears. Lawrence shook his head and grabbed another armful of supplies. He ran to the other wagon and threw what he had gathered in just as another arrow set this wagon on fire. The horses began to panic.

Lawrence cursed and turned back to the imp. He ran to the other flaming wagon and released the horses. He unhooked one of the animals and grabbed its reigns, letting the other flee. The man swung himself onto the massive Clydesdale and kicked it. He steered the frantic animal towards the wagon he had been working on and he grabbed one of the horses' reigns. With a shout he took off with the flaming wagon.

Once they were out of the line of fire, the man tied the free horse to the other one. He stood and jumped onto the top of the wagon. _Heaven help us… _he prayed as he took off his jacket and began beating the flames with it. He happened to look up just as a boy with black angel wings flew over him.

"Lucifer!"

Lawrence looked towards the sound of the voice. It was the girl and the man he had been found with. He recognized the winged one because of the boy's purple hair. The girl now had two large white wings and she flew behind Lucifer. Lawrence shook his head and turned away from the angels so he could try to put the flames out.

The man gasped when the wagon hit a rock. He flailed as he slipped; only managing to grab the side at the last moment. He looked down at the ground. _There's no way to survive that fall… we're going too fast!_ He frantically tried to pull himself up, but he didn't have a good grip. He closed his eyes as his hands slipped… But he didn't have time to scream before he felt a hand on his. He opened his eyes to see another white-haired man with a mask covering his face. The man pulled Lawrence back onto the wagon. "Can you drive this thing?" he asked. Lawrence nodded. "Then drive it! I'll put out the fire!"

Lawrence nodded and crawled back to the driver's seat. He grabbed the reigns and tugged a little to let the beasts know he was there. He turned back to the man that had saved him. He was doing a series of hand signs that made no sense to the merchant, but when the long streams of signs were finished, water came down to put out the fire. Lawrence looked away quickly. _What fresh Hell have I landed in?! _He thought.

He looked up when the other man came to sit beside. "My name is Kakashi…" he said.

"Kraft Lawrence… But most people just prefer to call me Lawrence…" he answered. "Well met."

Kakashi nodded. "Mind if I take that one?" he asked, pointing to the third beast.

"By all means… have it." Kakashi nodded and jumped onto the animal. Lawrence watched him unhook it and then take off to the left. Lawrence shook his head and gripped the reigns tighter. The horses sped towards the bridge and Lawrence prayed they'd make it in time.

* * *

"Kid!"

Naruto looked up from his fight with one of the blue-skinned attackers. He kicked the smaller warrior away and turned towards the trio that had come together. The girl was wielding a large scythe. Naruto shook his head and turned to his opponent. He lunged as a while and red wolf also lunged. Naruto stopped his attack as the wolf bit down on the creature's neck. Blood poured from the wound, killing the man almost instantly.

Naruto blinked. "Huh… Don't wanna tick you off…" he said to the wolf. She barked back at him and wagged her tail. Naruto smiled and turned towards the bridge that they were trying to escape through. He put his hand on the wolf's head. "Well… I guess we should get out of here…" he muttered. The wolf nodded and the duo took off towards the bridge. Naruto knew he was supposed to be grabbing an animal, but he wasn't sure which one to grab. The other two wagons that Lawrence hadn't managed to get out were burned to the ground. _If I don't pick something, I'll be walking… _he thought as he ran.

Naruto groaned and veered back to the pasture. The wolf barked at him. "I got this! You go on ahead!" Naruto shouted. He didn't wait to see if the wolf did as she was told. When he made it back to the holding pen, he spotted the other two ninja. Miharu was already on the back of white stag and he was pulling Yoite up behind him. Most of the animals in the pen had already been taken or had escaped.

As Naruto looked for a suitable animal, he spotted the butler running towards the paddock. The man cleared the fence and ran towards a navy blue lynx-like creature. Without a second thought, the man swung himself onto the beast, pulling the reigns. The animal snarled angrily, but took off in the direction of the bridge. Naruto looked at the remaining beasts. He spotted a large fox, roughly the size of a horse. The fox had four tails lashing behind it. _Close enough… _Naruto thought with a grin. He ran towards the sand colored fox and jumped onto its back.

At first, the fox didn't like the idea of a rider, but Naruto held on for dear life as the animal tried to throw him. After a moment or two, it decided it wasn't worth it and took off towards the bridge, not caring about having a rider. Naruto smiled and let out a loud shout.

* * *

Allen was back to back with the younger cloaked figure… He didn't even know the boy's name… or his face, and now the two were surrounded by the blue invaders. Allen rubbed his arm. He didn't even know if the kid behind him could fight. "How good are you at fighting…?" he hissed to the boy as the circle of villains discussed what to do with their catch in a language Allen couldn't understand.

"I could be better…"

Allen closed his eyes. _I'm going to die with this boy and I don't even know his name… _he thought. He was struggling with using his anti-Akuma weapon on creatures that weren't Akuma. Allen turned to the child behind him. The boy couldn't be more than thirteen years old.

"Don't worry about me…" the boy snapped. "Just worry about getting yourself out of here!"

Allen blinked. "I'm not going to leave you," he said quickly.

"I'm telling you, you don't have to worry about me! We attack on three!"

The boy wasn't giving Allen much of a choice. Just as the creatures were readying their weapons the boy hissed "three" and all hell broke loose. Allen lunged forward as his gloved arm morphed. He swung the arm at the closest creature. The beast was far faster than anything the exorcist had faced before. Before he had a chance to rebalance himself and attack again, his attacker was behind him. Allen gasped as he was kicked in the back of his head.

His vision went white and he flailed blindly as he waited for it to return to normal. His head was pounding with each beat of his racing heart. He felt his arm slam into a body and his vision cleared in time for him to see that he had managed to hit his younger companion. Allen gasped. The hood fell away to reveal a dirty-blonde kid with two calico cat ears. The boy turned his golden eyes to Allen and hissed, revealing fangs. "S-sorr-…" Allen didn't finish the word. At the same time he realized the hiss wasn't intended for him he felt a sword pierce his back.

The exorcist gasped and fell to his knees, trembling in pain and fear. He heard another loud hiss as the cat-boy lunged over him and towards the imp. He sunk his teeth into the creature's arm. Allen gasped as a hand grabbed him, but when he looked up he recognized the man with the duel colored eyes.

Soushi smiled at Allen and lifted him in his arms. "Do not worry. The wound is not deadly…" he assured the exorcist.

"I'm fine… I heal quickly…" Allen muttered, but he rested his head on the man's chest, still shaken. Soushi didn't wait to see if their cat companion was going to make it out alive. He ran with Allen to his animal, which happened to be a very large wolf with two tails. The animal already had on armor.

"Seems this one was an imperial beast," Soushi said as he got Allen onto the wolf. Allen looked at Soushi and then closed his eyes.

"Get… the kid…"

"Can you stay awake long enough to ride this animal out of here?" Soushi questioned. Allen nodded slowly and sat up, gasping in pain. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine…" Allen assured his companion. Soushi nodded and bowed to the exorcist.

"Then I will bring him to you safely," he promised. Allen closed his eyes as the wolf he was riding took off towards the bridge. Each step the animal took sent a wave of pain through Allen's body, causing him to shake violently. He hated leaving a fight… leaving his comrades behind. Back home he would be standing beside them until his last breath. _But I have to make it home… _he thought, squeezing his eyes shut. _They need me back home! I can't afford to die here! _Tears started to fall from his tightly closed eyes. _Please… let them be okay… _he sobbed silently. _Let them make it out…_

_Author's note: I'm ahead of schedule! YAY! So, that means, when I post this chapter, chapter four will be well in the works! This is good, because I'm leaving you all with a cliffhanger! I know I'm evil! Hope you guys are enjoying the ride so far! I will try to make my updates on Thursdays from now on! Also… reviews make me happy…! See you next time!_


	4. Chapter Four: Radioactive

_Author's note: Yeah… I'm late, I know! Life gets in the way of writing! T.T Sorry guys!_

_Chapter Four: Radioactive_

Allen only opened his eyes when he felt the wolf stop abruptly. He gasped and looked down to see that someone had grabbed the animal's reigns. Allen relaxed when he recognized the butler, Sebastian, had been the one to grab the animal. "It did not look like you were steering…" the man explained. "So I decided to assist."

"Th-thanks…" Allen muttered shakily. He let the man lead the wolf to the group. Everyone who had made it out was helping get the charred remains of the wagon cover off. Allen put his head on the wolf's neck and closed his eyes. He didn't seem to care where they were going.

"Are we all here?" Allen looked up to see the ninja, Kakashi, taking charge of the group.

"There's two more still in there… plus our guide," Allen replied without sitting up.

"We should leave them," the black-winged angel announced from the tree he was lounging in. "There's no need to go back in there after them…"

"Our guide is in there," Emi snapped. "Did anyone even bother to get a map?"

Lawrence, who was trying to calm himself, looked up from where he sat. "There were no maps in the supplies I gathered."

"Great… Leave a _human_ to mess everything up…" Lucifer said.

Lawrence glared up at the angel but before he could get up, Holo was in front of him and Sadoa was scolding his underling. Allen closed his eyes. _We're already fighting… _he thought. He took a long look at the people gathered there. Those who came alone were still alone and those who came with a group were only with the people they came with.

The butler released Allen's mount and gravitated back to his own creature. Naruto replaced Sebastian after a moment. He helped Allen from the wolf. "Are you okay…?"

"I've been better…" the exorcist muttered.

"Who's left in there?"

"The man with two colored eyes and the kid with the hood…" Allen answered, deciding Naruto probably didn't know anyone's names.

"Sensei! We have to go back!" Naruto called.

Kakashi sighed. "No… We have to regroup. This is our mission; not making sure everyone gets out safely."

"I'm not going to sit here and talk morals with you!" Naruto snapped. "I'm going!"

"You will do nothing of the sort!"

"Hey! Who decided you were in charge?" Yukio called suddenly. "Just because you're older doesn't mean you are the most competent one here!" Kakashi opened his mouth, but was cut off by Sadoa.

"And who, pray tell, do _you_ think should be in charge?" he asked Yukio.

"Anyone but you!" the exorcist snapped.

"Guys…" Maka snapped from where she, Soul and Kid were checking each other for wounds. "We shouldn't be—"

"Quiet! The adults are talking, little girl!" Lucifer hissed.

"Excuse me…?!"

"I agree with Yukio," Emi interjected, cutting off Maka's retort to Lucifer. "Sadoa should not be in charge of anything!"

Allen closed his eyes and tried to block out the fighting. He noticed that the ones that hadn't chimed in were either ignoring the group or were insulting them with their partner. Miharu and Yoite seemed the most interested in the conversation while Sebastian tended to his blue cat. Soul was getting in on the argument while Kid tried to settle everyone down.

"Does it matter?!" Allen shouted suddenly. A hush fell over the crowd and those who were ignoring the argument were now interested. "Who cares who's in charge?! All that matters is that we have two comrades still in there fighting for their lives!"

"Why bother?" Lucifer asked with a shrug. "If they can't get out without help, then they aren't useful to our little expedition, are they?"

Allen clenched his fists. "That is enough…" The man with the hood who had thus far been a silent figure throughout this ordeal stepped forward, leaving his horse tied to a tree. "The ninja is right… we should regroup… But the boy is also correct. We cannot just leave them in there. It would not be a wise choice in our current situation. _I_ will return and aide in our lost comrades while you argue amongst yourself about who is 'in charge' here."

The silence that followed the man's speech was almost deafening. He had not said a word since he was brought there and it was surprising to hear him speak so much. Kakashi was the first to speak. "That sounds reasonable," he said. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Kakashi cut him off. "_You_ are staying _here…!" _he snapped. "Do not argue with me…" Naruto pouted slightly, but he apparently decided to follow his teacher's orders… for now.

Connor nodded and grabbed his bow and arrow before swinging himself back on his horse. Allen sighed. "Good luck…" he whispered.

* * *

Soushi stared down the last three of the blue-skinned invaders. Three bodies laid beaten to death on the ground. The gentleman was not without wounds and his younger companion also wore wounds from their fight. "Can you fight on?" Soushi asked his companion. Conri nodded slowly.

"Don't worry about me," he hissed again.

"I will worry with every fiber of my body…" Soushi muttered for the third time since their fight had started. While Soushi didn't particularly care whether or not the cat-boy lived or died, he had promised Allen that he would return the boy to him safely… It was a promise he had made and he would not go back on his word; even if it meant dying for the brat.

Conri shook his head. "Any plans, then?" he asked the man. Soushi sighed and closed his eyes.

_Plans indeed… _he thought. He didn't want to have to show off quite so soon; but it was either that or die. He and Conri were both exhausted and now faced a firing squad of blue elves. The leader of the remaining trio had tried several times to say something to Soushi and Conri, but whatever broke the language barrier between the chosen obviously didn't break it between them. "Get behind me…" Soushi hissed.

"I told you-"

"I do not care." Conri shifted behind the man. The leader of the elves shouted angrily. Soushi merely held his hands up to show that he was not up to anything. The man slowly lowered himself to one knee. Conri quickly followed his partner's lead. Soushi closed his eyes as the leader walked towards them.

Just as the elf got close to the two boys, white and pink flower petals erupted in a tornado around Soushi. He man quickly stood and kicked out at the leader. When the phantom wind faded, a new creature stood in Soushi's place. Instead of the servant's garb he wore, he had on a bluish grey kimono… but the most striking change of all was the fact that he now had two fox ears and nine fox tails whipping behind him.

Soushi aimed his newly acquired Katana at the leader of the elf patrol. The man shouted something and the other two fired their arrows and then lunged for the newly formed fox-man. Soushi easily sidestepped the oncoming attackers and smirked. He swung his sword, slicing through the belly of one of them. The beast blinked and looked down at the black liquid that spewed from the deep cut. The expression on his face was one of disbelief. He turned to Soushi and opened his mouth to speak, but all that came was black blood. Soushi kicked the man away from him and he was dead before he hit the ground.

Soushi grinned at his achievement before lunging towards the other. Just as his Katana sliced through his opponent's back, a loud caterwaul echoed from behind him. Soushi tore his weapon from the beast's chest as he spun around to see Conri on the ground, a dagger through his back. Soushi narrowed his eyes and everything faded around him. He bit his lip as the leader lifted the dagger out of Conri's back and went to attack again. Soushi was faster. Before the creature was able to bring down the final death blow, his head was cleaved from his body by the enraged kitsune.

* * *

"-ster…?"

_Did I… die…? _Conri could feel nothing but white hot pain, but even that only came in waves, and in the times between the pain, he felt nothing. Nothing seemed to be working in his body. He tried to move his legs first, and then his arms and finally his tail, but nothing responded. It was as if his brain had been cut off from the rest of his body, leaving him trapped in his own mind… the only indication that he was still alive was the pain…

"—ri"

Conri would have blinked if he could. The voice was distant, but it seemed to be tugging him towards it. He felt a hand on him between the waves of pain.

"Master Conri…?"

Conri blinked slowly as he vision returned. He hadn't noticed that his eyes had been wide open until that blink. His eyes stung and felt completely dried out. The boy blinked several times and clenched his fist weakly. It moved just as he had wanted. The boy sighed.

"Are you alright, Master Conri…?"

"Oh… Y-yeah… I'm fine…" Conri muttered. He tried to sit up, but found his whole body to be heavy as if he had just woken up from a very deep sleep.

"You should not move, Master Conri…" Soushi said. He gently lifted the cat boy in his arms. Conri grumbled, but didn't protest. "I am surprised that you are still alive…"

"Yeah… My people are pretty hard to kill," the boy answered with a shrug. It wasn't entirely a lie.

"Yes… But there was so much blood… I could not stop the bleeding… And then, it just stopped…" Soushi said, confused and concerned.

"Well… it's just my people are fast healers… you did fine. I would probably be dead if it wasn't for you."

"Of course… but, being fast healers and being invincible are two very different concepts, Master Conri…"

Conri blinked. "Could you not call me master…?" he asked quietly. Soushi blinked, but then nodded slowly. Conri didn't like the idea of being a master. Where he was from, he was expected to be a slave, only staying free through hiding his accursed cat ears and tail. Just as he didn't want to have a master, he didn't want to _be_ a master of anything other than himself. "As for what you said, my race is far from invincible. We can be killed…"

"I see…" Soushi didn't seem convinced, but he didn't pursue the issue any more. Conri closed his eyes and allowed Soushi to carry him, only opening them again when he heard Malum's distinct voice. Soushi halted away from the cat woman. She seemed to be discussing something with someone. Soushi took a few steps towards the voices and found the woman was talking with one of the blue invaders.

"Your people have no hope left, dark spirit!" the blue-skinned elf taunted. Malum hissed. "Here you are, standing on the ruins of your last strong hold! Where will your refugees go now, beast? Will you continue to flee from us?"

"You will have no power here! We have brought saviors into our world and you can go back to your leaders and tell them that we may not have an army, but we have gods and beasts on our side and you will never win!" Malum snarled.

The elf laughed. "Foolish words! These 'heroes' that you speak of are nothing but a group of cowards and fools, Malum! You have brought them to their deaths! They will turn on your people once they see the task that falls before them!"

"Umm… Excuse me…" Soushi said, stepping out of hiding. Conri cursed the kitsune's name from their hiding spot that he had been left at. "I do not speak for the others that have been brought here, but I for one will not abandon my duties." The kitsune's tails wagged slowly as the elf smirked at him.

"You are a brave, but stupid child," he snapped.

"I am neither stupid nor a child," Soushi said. "I am the physical embodiment of the wise fox-spirit that is older than perhaps your whole world. Do not insult me."

"I have nothing against you personally. You are all victims of this creature's foul race's plot. Sadly, due to this detail, I cannot allow you to live."

"My life is not your whim," Soushi retorted, holding his sword tighter.

The elf inclined his head and smiled. "We have won here, demon. There is no more need to fight. I look forward to turning those tails of yours into a fine scarf for the harsh winters to come."

Soushi looked as if he were about to retort, but he stayed silent. Instead he wagged his tails furiously.

"Enough," Malum snapped. "This will get us nowhere. Yes, you have won this time, General, but next battle will not be won in your favor."

The General nodded slowly and sheathed his sword. He turned on his heels and walked away from them, having the audacity to turn his back on his enemies. Conri noticed that Soushi tightened his grip on his sword. Instead of attacking, however, the fox closed his eyes and sighed. There was another gust of wind and when the petals disappeared, he was again the butler he had been. There was no evidence that an ancient fox spirit had been there.

Soushi returned to Conri and lifted him up. "I apologize for my actions, Conri… I was not myself…"

Conri smiled despite himself. "Yeah… It's okay."

Malum walked over to the two. "Thank you, Soushi. I appreciate your help."

"Of course, ma'am." The fox boy bowed awkwardly, balancing Conri in his arms. The boy wrapped his arms around Soushi's neck and closed his eyes. He ignored the voices that came, and only opened his eyes for a moment to see the assassin coming towards them. There were few words exchanged between the usually silent characters. Conri simply tuned them out and drifted off into sleep.

* * *

The question of who should be in charge still was not answered, but the argument had given way to exhaustion. Kakashi stood guard while the younger or weaker of their group rested. He noticed that Lawrence reached for one of their few liquor bottles more than once, only to be denied access to the drink but his wolfish companion. Naruto was the only one who was bothering to socialize with the strangers, but even then, he only hovered around Allen to make sure the exorcist was okay.

The others tended to stick with their groups. Maka, Soul, and Kid were sitting near the wagon, Sebastian was staying away from everyone and the ninja and exorcist duos kept to themselves. Rin seemed eager to get moving but his brother was patiently cleaning his weapon. Kakashi sighed. They would never get anything done if there wasn't at least a slight sense of teamwork within their group. The man smiled softly beneath his mask. _I turned into you, didn't I, Minato-sensei…? _

After several minutes, the grey-haired ninja stood up when he saw their missing four. "I take it all went well?" Kakashi asked when they got close. No one seemed injured except for the unconscious boy in Soushi's arms. His clothes were drenched in blood. _That's too much blood, _Kakashi thought. _That boy should be dead… _But despite that, the boy's chest rose and fell without struggle. "Is he okay?" the ninja asked.

Soushi nodded. "Yes, I believe so. It seems he is merely exhausted."

"Is that _his_ blood…?"

Soushi nodded again, but it was slower than before. "He is well," the man repeated firmly. Kakashi nodded curtly and turned to address Lawrence. "Are you fit to drive this wagon?" he asked. The merchant stood slowly.

"I will do what I must."

"Good…"

Malum stepped forward. "We have quite a journey a head of us," she said. "It would be best for you all to rest. We will leave at nightfall."

"Would it not be better to travel during the day?" Sebastian asked from where he stood.

Malum smiled a cat-like grin. "You do not know these lands. Where we are heading, the night is the best time, for the beasts hunt during the day and sleep at night. We will do the opposite."

Sebastian didn't retort to the woman and instead he went back to grooming his animal. Everyone went back to their own business. Kakashi walked over to the cat woman. "I would like to know more about where we are going."

Malum smiled. "We travel to the forest first," she answered. "There we will set up a more permanent camp. The invaders will not step foot into this forest."

"Why not?" Kakashi asked. It sent alarms through him when he heard that supposedly brave invaders feared a part of the land.

Malum smiled again and this time her grin sent a shiver up Kakashi's spine. "You will see…" Kakashi clenched his fists. If their guide would not tell him, then there must have been a terrible secret within the forest they were heading towards. The ninja sighed and instead walked over to Naruto, Allen and Soushi. Conri had been set on the ground and Allen had given the boy his blanket. For the first time, Kakashi noticed that the child was no mere human. He had cat ears. _And a tail… _Kakashi assumed. He knelt beside Naruto. "How are you holding up?" he asked his student.

Naruto shrugged, and then smiled. "It's an adventure," he said. "Just like missions back home!"

_Except we don't get a mission briefing or really any information here… _Kakashi thought, but he didn't voice his fears. He smiled instead. "Yeah. We'll have one heck of a story to tell when we get back to Konoha, huh?"

Naruto nodded happily. But Kakashi knew that beneath the boy's smile, he was worried about Konoha. Pain's attack hadn't been too long ago and Naruto was probably afraid something else would happen to their home while they were playing hero here…

The man sighed. _It can't be helped… _he thought as he looked around at the group of people. When they started moving, he was going to try to get them to be a team... Whether they liked it or not.

_Author's note: I give up on having set update days! ^.^ Sorry it's so short! Next one will be better! Hope you guys liked the bit of bloody action! See you next time!_


	5. Chapter 5: I'll See You Tomorrow

_Author's note: I couldn't help myself, guys! I'm adding one more character! Forgive me and my random obscure manga/anime no one has ever heard of! I hope you like the new addition! Also, I feel obligated to tell you that all my chapter titles are song lyrics! I didn't write them! ^.^_

_Chapter Five: If I Survive, I'll See You Tomorrow_

_Day Three: Night_

Morning came all too quickly for the spawn of Satan. Rin closed his eyes and curled up tighter when Yukio tried to wake him. "Come on, Rin! They're going to leave us if you don't get moving."

"Shut up, four eyes! I'm tired!" They had been traveling for two days now and in their haste to get out, Rin and Yukio had only managed to grab one anime between them. It was a small horse and while the animal was clearly built for speed, it wasn't built to carry two riders. Rin, being the elder brother, usually let Yukio ride the horse, leaving him to walk beside the animal. They had covered a vast distance in the two days of traveling, but it was literally endless walking. Rin was starting to envy Lucifer's wide wing span. The exorcist sighed and sat up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…" he muttered to his brother after the younger snapped at him again.

The trek had been long and quiet. Each person in their group kept to themselves or the people they had arrived with. Well, everyone except the orange-clad ninja and his teacher. Kakashi seemed to be making the rounds and talking to everyone about their strength and weaknesses. Naruto, however, was more successful in getting people to open up to him. At the present, he was hanging out with Death the Kid and his group. Rin sighed. There was something about that boy that just made people want to open up to him.

"Rin, come _on!" _

Rin stood slowly and folded his blanket. "Man, I need a shower…" he muttered.

"We all do…" Yukio replied, his hand on his gun.

"You seem a bit jumpy…" Rin observed as he shoved his blanket in his backpack.

"Do you want to ride the horse today…?" Rin blinked. It was a quick change of subject, but he didn't pursue the issue.

"No. I'm good!" He offered his brother a "thumbs-up" and Yukio merely shrugged before mounting their black steed.

Rin looked around at their group. The cat-boy, Conri, was still covered in a mass amount of blood that had dried onto his shirt. Soushi stuck to the cat-boy like glue, constantly checking on his health. Sebastian obviously kept away from the group, along with Connor. Those two usually brought up the rear in their silence. Lucifer, Sadoa and Emilia were usually near the wagon. Sadoa and Emi would bicker up a storm, which usually made Lucifer take to the sky. Miharu and Yoite were the only ones Naruto couldn't crack. They were too silent for the hyperactive boy and he had yet to have a conversation with them. Lawrence and Holo drove the supply wagon. Allen was back on his feet and he stayed close to Naruto. Those two were usually the ones who made the most noise after Lucifer could stop the constant arguing between his two companions. Thankfully the animals were getting along with each other, but none of them felt comfortable around Holo or the mysterious white and red wolf. Not even Allen's twin-tailed wolf or Naruto's four-tailed fox.

Rin smiled when he noticed Allen eating a piece of jerky. _I don't think I've ever seen him without food in his mouth… _the half-demon thought with a smile. He grabbed the reins of their horse and started walking. The exhaustion in the group was obvious. Riding for hours on end was almost as tiring as walking for the same amount of time. Even Lawrence and Holo, who shared the wagon, seemed exhausted at the end of each day. Only Rin and the wolf were without a steed, but Kakashi seemed more inclined to walk, so his horse was being used to help lighten the load of the work horses. Rin thought about asking for the animal, but he didn't want to seem weak in front of everyone, so he sucked it up.

Rin tightened his grip on the horse's reigns. "You sure you don't want to ride up here, Rin…?" Yukio asked again, gentler. "Maybe you can sleep some more…" Rin looked up at Yukio and smiled. Despite Yukio obviously being the stronger exorcist, Rin still felt that he was the elder brother and therefore he could sacrifice. "Why don't you ride Kuro…?" Yuki asked.

Rin sighed and looked to where Kuro was. The black cat was curled up and sleeping peacefully on the white wolf's back. "Naw let him sleep! I'm fine!" Rin insisted. "Besides, so far he hasn't drawn attention, but who knows who else here might consider themselves demon hunters…"

"I heard Allen mentioning that he was an exorcist," Yukio muttered.

Rin looked up at his brother. "Is that why you haven't taken your hand off your gun…?" he asked quietly. Yukio nodded slowly. Rin sighed. "You don't have to pro—"

"Yes I do," Yukio snapped without letting Rin finished. The boy sighed again and closed his eyes, allowing the horse to lead him.

"Rin!"

Rin opened his eyes. "Hmm…?" He noticed that he was no longer standing.

"You collapsed…" Yukio muttered. The group was a considerable distance ahead of them now. "Get on the horse."

"I'm fine…" Rin muttered, standing up. In truth, he hadn't slept well since they got there.

"Hey! Are you two okay?" Rin looked up to see Kakashi jogging towards them.

"Yeah… We're good," Rin said with a smile. Yukio just watched Kakashi with a cold expression.

"Did something happen…?"

"My brother is tired," Yukio said curtly.

Kakashi blinked. "If that was the problem, he could have used my horse…" Rin sighed. The ninja was perfectly fine with running ahead and keeping pace with the group, despite not using his horse.

_I guess we have a soft life compared to whatever he goes through… _Rin thought, but that still didn't make him feel any better. Rin stood slowly.

"Look… it's not going to help anyone if you continue to push yourself until you collapse," Kakashi started. "Why don't I go fetch my horse and you can—"

"You aren't my father!" Rin snapped. Kakashi blinked, clearly shocked by the outburst. "Just leave us alone, old man!" Kakashi blinked, but nodded. He turned and left without another word.

Yukio sighed. "You need to sleep Rin… Last time you shouted at someone like that…"

"Just shut up…" Rin muttered. The younger brother closed his eyes and urged his horse forward. Rin followed silently.

* * *

By that point, Sebastian had had just about enough. They were seemingly walking aimlessly through wilderness. He had yet to see another living thing in three days. _At this rate the food supply will deplete quickly… _he found himself thinking again. He sighed and stroked the large cat he was riding. It was quiet in the back and that was how he liked it. There was no need to have conversations. He looked back to where Kakashi and the two brothers were. It seemed the ninja was just finishing up back there and was heading back with the other two following slowly.

The butler closed his eyes, but then snapped them open when he felt a presence beside him. "Oh… Miss Malum. How are you?" the he asked without really caring about the answer.

"I am well, thank you…" the cat woman whispered. "We will be at our destination soon. I wish to be there by daybreak."

"You said that your beasts hunt during the day… Are you certain that we will be able to set up camp before the sun rises…?"

"No… but it will be better than sleeping out in these fields again…" Sebastian nodded slowly. He looked out in the distance. There was something covering the horizon and he figured that would be their forest, but he didn't ask. He closed his eyes again.

"We would not have called you here if it was not important…" Malum whispered. "The one who cast the spell died to bring you all here…"

"I see. Was it truly worth it…?"

"That has yet to be determined, Sebastian…"

"Of course… We have not proved our usefulness… And what did you plan to do with us once we were finish."

"We had not thought that far…"

_I didn't think so… _Sebastian thought. "Is this all you brought here…?"

"We are not sure… We sent the magic to multiple universes…"

"So… there could be more of out there…?"

"It is possible…" Malum said with a shrug. "We do not know where they would have landed. There's a chance that there are many more out there…"

"I see…" Sebastian muttered. He looked to the sky that was full of bright stars that lit the land almost as bright as their day…

* * *

_Day Three: Early Morning_

"D-did you hear that…? I think I heard something! Wh-what if it wants to eat us?! What will we do then?!"

"We're not going to get eaten… calm down…"

"But I heard something!"

Two boys walked down the path. They were both roughly the same age, but one seemed much calmer than the other. One had dark blue hair while the other had orange hair that faded into yellow at the tips and two large mouse ears beneath his top hat. The one with orange hair fearfully jumped at every sound… even the ones made by his mouse tail as it brushed the grass on the side of the path. The other boy merely shook his head in annoyance, but didn't voice his thoughts. He simply reassured his companion over and over again.

"You didn't hear anything Pierce… It was your imagination…"

"I definitely heard something!"

"We _are_ following a path, you know… Surely there are others on it…"

"Have you seen the foot prints that made this path?! We're walking into a death trap, I tell you!" The other boy sighed deeply. Sure enough they were following a recently made path… and by the looks of it, it was one with travelers riding large animals. As Peirce liked to point out every time he got the chance, many of the prints belonged to canines and cats. But even more belonged to hoofed animals… and nothing was chasing anything. What interested the boy more was that there were obviously human footprints in the mud and the group was traveling with a wagon. And since they started following the path two days ago, they had only seen one campground…

"Aoi! I heard something!" Peirce whimpered.

Aoi let out a longsuffering sigh. He had patience for children… but this was getting ridiculous… He was about to open his mouth to reassure the mouse again, but stopped. The boy _was_ hearing things… "Get behind me…"

"What is it?!" Peirce cried softly.

"I'm not sure… What does it sound like to you…?" Aoi knew that the mouse had better hearing than he did.

"W-wolves…" Peirce whispered. Aoi nodded. "What do we do…?"

"Run… Are they behind us…?" Aoi whispered. Peirce nodded slowly. "Can you tell how many…?"

"A pack, of five, at least… B-but—"he cut off.

"But what…?"

"They sound… too big to be wolves…"

Aoi nodded again. Now he could hear them. He grabbed the mouse's hand and turned, sprinting. Peirce gripped the boy's hand tightly. "I told you!"

"Hush! " Aoi snapped. Pierce squeaked and Aoi turned to see what was chasing them… and the mouse had been right… it _was_ a wolf, but one that would put wolves in his world to shame. There were massive beasts… nearly twice the size of a normal wolf. They were black with red eyes and their tails were more like a spiked lizard's tail than a wolf's. Their paws were paws exactly, but more like talons. There were six that he could see. The pack was being led by the largest of the beasts. There was no way to outrun them. It was like outrunning a horse.

Aoi stopped. Peirce stopped beside him. "Keep running…" Aoi snapped.

"B-but! What are you going to do?!"

"Give you a chance to escape! Go!" Peirce closed his eyes and nodded. Aoi understood. They had known each other for two days. It wasn't hard to let someone go after that short of a time. The mouse-boy shrunk suddenly to the size of a rat and took off into the grass. Aoi smiled and faced the wolves. Without a weapon, he would have some trouble holding them off… but they wouldn't go after his companion when he was that size.

Aoi smiled wider and lunged towards the alpha of the pack.

_Author's note: I know! This chapter is way too short! But I had to get it out for you guys! I'm sorry it's so tiny and I made you wait a month for it! T.T I'm a terrible author! But enjoy the cliffhanger! And I won't make you wait that long again, I promise! _


End file.
